370 



BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



NO. 28. 

ISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY 



General Series^ Wo. 3 



MwrcJi i, 190 If, 



SOME WHOLESOME EDUCATIONAL 
< STATISTICS 




BY 

WILLIAM SENECA SUTTON, 31. A., 
Professor of the Science and Art of Education in Tlie University of Texas 




PUBLIS'^ED BY 

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 
Entered as second-class mail rnatiei at the postoffice at Austin, Texas 



fiR3»W|t-/ ■*»*^ 



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EDITORIAL STAFF 

H. Y. BENEDICT, - - - . - - - - Editor-in-Chief 

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Address all business communications to 

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BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



u 



NO. 28. 

ISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY 



GenefTol Series^ JVo. 3 



March 1, 190 1^ 



SOME WHOLESOME EDUCATIONAL 
STATISTICS 



BY 

WILLIAM SENECA SUTTON, M. A., 

Professor of the Science and Art of Education in The University of Texas 




PUBLISHED BY 

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 

Entered as second-class mail matter at the postoffice at Austin, Texas 



iowgrtph 






"Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy. . . 
It is the only dictator that freemen acknowledge and the only 
security that freemen desire." 

President Mirabeau B. Lamor. 



Mickigaa Uibv. Lib. 

Jf22'07 



SOME WHOLESOME EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS. 



BY WILLIAM SENECA SUTTON^ 

PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. 



It is not an improper thing for one to hold in high esteem the state 
in which he lives. We who live in Texas have a right to speak with 
pride of some of our achievements. It is not dishonoring, for example, 
to call attention to the fact that the Lone Star State during the years 
from 1870 to 1900 rose from the rank of nineteenth in the list of 
States to that of sixth with respect to population; from twenty-eighth 
in railroad mileage to second; from thirty-fifth in the number of farms 
to first; from ninth in rice to second; from twenty-ninth in wheat to 
sixth; and from subordinate ranks to first rank in cotton, in cattle, in 
mules, in goats, and even in asses. We, however, need little encourage- 
ment along the line of cataloguing and advertising our excellencies. The 
patent medicine men and certain types of educational institutions and 
educators have already inoculated us sufficiently with the deadly virus of 
boastfulness. 

True science, as well as common sense and common honesty, com- 
mands us, before we give expression to positive convictions with respect 
to any subject, to face without prejudice all the facts relating thereto, 
even though many of these facts be utterly at variance with our pre- 
conceived opinions. Science, again, insists that we be brave enough to 
accept the truth when found, even though it hurts, while genuine state 
pride admonishes us that lying is, by no means, a necessary activity of 
a. patriotic career. 

In this paper, which has been written, it is believed, in a s«ientific 
and a patriotic spirit, the thoughtful attention of men and women 
interested in the development of a higher civilization in Texas, is 
invited to a discussion of the present actual educational conditions in 
our commonwealth. 

The fathers of Texas, in addition to their heroism, possessed rare 
political insight, for they regarded popular education as the surest 
■defense of democratic government. It has been often repeated, and 
with an intelligence not to be scorned, that the Texas Declaration of 
Independence is, in the history of the world, the only instrument of its 
kind that assigns as a just cause for revolution the failure of the 



— 4— 

mother-country to provide for public education at public expense. How 
strong was the faith of early Texans in the doctrine of public schools 
is shown in this sentence taken from the Declaration, to which refer- 
ence has just now been made : 

"It [the mother-country] has failed to establish any public system 
of education, although possessed of almost boundless resources (the 
public domain), and although it is an axiom in political science that 
unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the 
continuance of civil liberty or the capacity for self-government." 

The Constitution of Coahuila and Texas, it is true, provided that a 
state system of education should be established; but those constitu- 
tional provisions with respect to education did not, in the slightest 
degree, become effective. 

The first Constitution of the Eepublic of Texas, adopted March, 
1836, contained a clause whereby it was made "the duty of Congress'* 
(I quote from the Constitution itself), "as soon as circumstances will 
permit, to provide by law a general system of education." The Eepub- 
lic of Texas, in 1845, became a state of the American Union, and the 
first Constitution that she, as a state adopted, provided for public free 
schools, the educational article being mandatory. The Confederate 
Constitution of 1861 contained the same educational provisions as did 
the Constitution of 1845. The Constitution of 1866 contained an 
equally strong educational article. The Constitution of 1869, which 
was adopted under Eepublican rule, reaffirmed the doctrine of public 
free education. Of its policies relating to schools, it has been said: 
"The Constitution of 1869 was more radical than either of its predeces- 
sors, and was more effective than our present Constitution. It cannot 
be doubted that a conservative school law enacted in accordance with its 
provisions would have been acceptable to the great majority of the peo- 
ple."* This Constitution of 1869 provided for state supervision, for 
a uniform system of schools throughout the state, for the school dis- 
trict as the unit of organization, and for the compulsory attendance of 
pupils for at least four months in each year. The following clause is 
especially worthy of note: "It is made the imperative duty of the 
Legislature to see to it that all the children of the state within the 
scholastic age are without delay provided with ample means of educa- 
tion." 

We come now to the Constitution under which we live, which was 
adopted by the people in 1875, and promulgated in 1876, and which, 
together with the amendments adopted in 1883 and subsequently, 
embodies the organic law of this state. Article VII. of this Constitu- 

*Report of Hon. O, H. Cooper, State Superintendent of Public Instruction,, 
for 1886-1888, page 11. 



— 5— 

tion is devoted to education. The first section reads: "A general 
diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liber- 
ties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of 
the state to establish and make suitable provision for the support and 
maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools." It is to be 
observed that this section provides that the state shall establish schools; 
that these schools shall l>e free schools; that these free schools shall 
be open to all the people; that these pviblic free schools shall be organ- 
ized into a system; and that this system of public free schools shall be 
efficient. Let us now examine the facts, and endeavor to reach a correct 
answer to the inquiry to be raised in this discussion, Has Texas an 
efficient system of public free schools? 

In the first place, a system of education, or of government, or of 
religion, or of whatnot, cannot be efficient if reasonably ample funds are 
not provided for its support. For the maintenance of a system of schools 
there must be income derived from taxation, from public endowment 
by lands and money, from private gifts, or from two or more of these 
sources combined. Many states, including Texas, have what is known 
as permanent school funds, which constitute permanent endowments for 
the advancement of education. Here is a statement of the permanent 
school fund of Texas taken from the official report of the State Treas- 
urer: 

PERMANENT SCHOOL FUND, SEPTEMBER 1, 1902. 

Cash $ 293,496 01 

Bonds, State 2,213,500 00 

Bonds, County 6,300,747 35 

Bonds, City and Independent School District. 484,087 55 

Bonds, Eailroad 342,232 24 

Land Notes 15,289,466 93 

Total $24,923,530 08 

PERPETUAL SCHOOL FUND^ SEPTEMBER 1, 1902. 

Permanent Fund $24,923,530 08 

Twenty-two Million Acres of Land 22,000,000 00 

Total $46,923,530 08 

There is no occasion for grief when it is announced with some degree 
of pride that, of all the states in the American Union, Texas has the 
largest permanent state school fund. 



— 6— 

This table gives some interesting information on this point : 

PERMANENT SCHOOL FUNDS, 1901-1902. 

Texas $46,923,530 

Massachusetts 4,470,548 

New York 8,587,661 

Illinois 7,031,544 

Missouri 12,795,517 

California 3,641,200 

Pennsylvania 

Having the largest school fund, Texas consequently enjoys the honor 
of holding first rank with respect to income from permanent school 
funds, as is shown in this table : 

INCOME FROM PERMANENT FUNDS, 1901-1902. 

Texas $1,676,462 

Illinois 845,366 

Missouri 638,833 

New York 272,477 

California . 218,692 

Massachusetts 160,546 

Pennsylvania 

Another source of revenue for the support of schools is state taxa- 
tion. The present school tax levied by Texas is 18 cents on the $100 
of property valuation. This table gives some idea of what Texas aiid 
some other states are doing along the line of raising revenues by means 
of levying a state tax for education : 

AMOUNT RAISED BY STATE TAXATION FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 1901-1902.* 

Texas $2,199,357 

Missouri 1,188,290 

Illinois 934,108 

New York 3,871,443 

California 2,977,158 

Massachusetts 108,750 

Pennsylvania 5,172,342 

*This comparative table, as well as others given in this paper, is taken from 
Volume I. of the Report of the United States Commissioner of Education for 1902. 



— 7— 

With respect to the amount raised by state taxation for schools Texas 
is fifth in the list of states and territories. 

Again, another means for raising revenue for the support of schools 
is local taxation. From the table given below one can easily determine 
that Texans, relying mainly upon a state tax and upon a perma- 
nent fund which did not cost then one cent or one drop of blood or one 
hour of labor, neglect the one great source of revenue, upon which the 
schools of ISTew York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and other 
great states depend. 

AMOUNT RAISED BY LOCAL TAXATION FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 1901-1902. 

Texas $ 1,233,514 

Illinois 18,062,573 

New York 27,062,750 

California 3,900,741 

Missouri 5,855,991 

Massachusetts 13,800,359 

Pensylvania 17,575,939 

As to local taxation for schools, Texas is twenty-eighth in the list of 
states and territories, the states and territories ranking lower than 
Texas being Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Delaware, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indian Territory, Utah, 
Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho. In point 
of taxable wealth which of these states can be compared with Texas? 

Another way to measure the degree of a people's faith in education 
is to learn the amount spent per capita for the maintenance of schools. 
This short table reveals facts in which Texans can have little pride: 

AMOUNT SPENT PER CAPITA OF POPULATION, 1901-1902. 

Average of United States $2.99 

Average of North Atlantic Division 4.18 

Average of Western Division 4.39 

Average of Missouri 2.55 

Average of Texas 1-63 

With respect to the amount spent per capita for schools, Texas is 
thirty-seventh in the list of states and territories. States ranking 
lower than Texas are Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louis- 
iana, and Arkansas. 

The length of the school year is another exponent of the efficiency of 



a system of public schools. Certainly, no one, knowing the facts, 
can declare that Texas has an efficient system of education. The 
figures given in the table below include city, as well as rural, schools. 
Were the city schools excluded from the estimate, the number of days 
would be considerably decreased. The rural schools of this state are 
not open as much as five months in any one year, and it stands to 
reason that an institution which is in operation only five-twelfths of 
each year cannot hope to be considered of the first rank. ISTo child 
should be expected to make great progress if he is at school five months 
and absent seven every year. The fact is that any really intelligent, 
industrious, wide-awake boy can forget a great deal more in seven 
months than he learns in five. 

LENGTH OF SCHOOL YEAR, 1901-1902. 

Average of the United States 145 days. 

Massachusetts 185 days. 

California 167.4 days. 

Michigan 164.2 days. 

Missouri 143 days. 

Colorado 135 days. 

Texas 101.91 days. 

With respect to length of school year, Texas is forty-second in the 
list of states and territories. Below her are North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and 
New Mexico. 

Another line of statistics reveals a comparison no less mortifying to 
Texas. Consider these figures : 

PER CENT OF SCHOLASTIC POPULATION ENROLLED IN SCHOOL, 1901-1902. 

Average of United States 71.54 

Massachusetts 73.79 

California 79.16 

Michigan 77.11 

Missouri 74.57 

Colorado 86.38 

Texas 66.74 

Only eight states and two territories rank lower than Texas, viz. : 
Ehode Island, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, 
Wyoming, Louisiana, Arizona, New Mexico, and Indian Territory. 

Of all the factors connected with a school system the teachers must 
be regarded as the greatest. In proportion as they are prepared for a 



— 9— 

high grade of service, are the schools they teach efficient. The follow- 
ing table, taken from State Superintendent Lefevre's last report, 
exhibits the professional status of the teachers of Texas : 

TEXAS teachers' CERTIFICATES, 1901-1902. 

White Colored 

Teachers. Teachers. Total 

Number of Third Grade 581 395 976 

Number of Second Grade 6,266 2,191 8,457 

Number of First Grade 4,737 458 5,195 

Number of Permanent 1,191 149 1,340 

Total 12,775 3,193 15,968 

That we may have a more definite notion of the academic and pro- 
fessional attainments required of teachers, these extracts from the 
school law are quoted: 

1. "An applicant for a third-grade certificate shall be examined in 
spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, geography, 
Texas history, elementary physiology and hygiene, and the laws of 
health with special reference to narcotics, and school management and 
methods of teaching." 

The grade of scholarship reqiiired of applicants for this certificate 
is perhaps not superior to that demanded of students passing from the 
sixth to the seventh grade of the public schools. 

2. "The applicant for the second-grade certificate shall be examined! 
in the subjects prescribed for the tliird-grade certificate, and, in addi- 
tion thereto, in United States history, elementary principles of civil! 
government, English composition, physiology and hygiene, and physi- 
cal geography," 

3. "The applicant for the first-grade certificate shall be examined 
in the subjects prescribed for a second-grade certificate, and, in addi- 
tion thereto, in physics, algebra, elements of geometry, the Constitu- 
tions of the United State and of Texas, general history, and the effects 
of tobacco and alcoholic intoxicants upon the human system." 

4. "The applicant for a permanent certificate shall be examined in 
the branches prescribed for first-, second-, and third-grade certificates, 
and, in addition thereto, in the history of education, general history, 
psychology, English and American literature, chemistry, solid geora- 
erty, plane trigonometry, and elementary double-entry bookkeeping." 

It will be observed that the number of second-grade certificates, as 
shown in the table given above, exceeds by more than three thousand 
the number of first-grade certificates. There is, undoubtedly, room for 



—10— 

mucli improvement as long as teachers in so great numbers hold cer- 
tificates giving evidence of limited scholarship and inferior professional 
training. Surely no patriot interested in education can gather comfort 
from the fact that the number of holders of second-grade certificates is 
greater by more than seven thousand than the number holding third- 
grade certificates, for it is only the untoward conditions so long obtain- 
ing in this state that justify granting third-grade certificates at all. 

Again, an efficient system of public schools implies that adequate 
provision be made for elementary schools, for secondary schools, and 
for higher schools. It has been shown that the elementary schools of 
tliis state are not to be compared with those of some other states. It 
is })erhaps equally easy to prove that the higher institutions of Texas, 
including the State University, are not in all respects equal to the 
higher institutions of some other American States and foreign coun- 
tries. If it were generally know that one of the universities in the 
Middle West, a university established not many years ago, is this year 
spending more for the support of one of its schools than our State 
.appropriates for the benefit of all the schools in The University of 
Texas, I fear we Texans would no longer hear with patience the boast 
'that our University is the greatest one in America. When, further- 
jnore, it is known that there are universities in this country, each of 
-which spends every year for magazines and periodicals a sum greater 
ihan The University of Texas is spending for this kind of literature, 
together with all other additions to her library, it is not difficult for us 
to reach the conclusion that the library of our University has not much 
more than been founded. 

But it is not desired to discuss here the fact that The University of 
Texas is not in the first rank of American universities. Let us take it 
for granted that Texas has done fairly well in establishing elementary 
schools and higher institutions of learning. She has, however, made 
no provision for secondary education. About the only reference to 
education of this character to be found in our statutes is in Section 19 
of our School Laws, as published in 1901. This section requires that 
orthography, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar, mod- 
ern geography, composition, physiology and hygiene, including the 
effects of alcoholic stimulants and narcotics upon the human system, 
mental arithmetic, Texas history. United States history, and civil gov- 
ernment be taught in the schools, together with such other branches as 
may be agreed upon by the trustees or directed by the State Superin- 
tendent. This provision is next to no provision for secondary schools, 
a truth easily discerned when one remembers that adequate provision 
has not in fact yet been made for elementary instruction. In other 
words, Texas, in building her educational house has partially completed 



—li- 
the first and third stories, which may be called elementary education 
and higher education; but the second story of this house, sad, as well 
as wonderful to relate, she has made no attempt to construct. Here 
is a drawing which was made by Mr. Conner, one of the students in the 
Engineering Department of the University, and which fairly represents 
our peculiar educational structure, a imiqiie structure, which in the 
near future, let us hope, will receive the attention of our Governor and 
of the legislative department of our state government: 




ftigher 



5cco/vc/qv^ £dv)catio/v. 







fdocotior. 



The Ed ucatio/va I hoose. Texas Has Built. 



How Texas expects the pupil completing the elementary school to 
pass into the University is more than a student of the science and art 
of education can imagine. Even the Texas mind is not equipped with 
seven-league intellectual boots, which accounts for the fact that so many 
young men and women in the state have been unable to do satisfactory 
work in the freshman class of college. It is true that in many of the 
towns and cities excellent high schools have been established; but these 
schools have been founded and maintained by local enterprise; they are 
by HO means to be considered as part and parcel of the state system of 
schools the fathers of Texas sought to have established and maintained. 

America has decided the question that public education is to include 
instruction from the lowest to the highest grade. Says the English 
educator, Michael E. Sadler, in an article entitled, "Impressions of 
American Education," published in the Educational Review for March, 
1903 : "One of the most remarkable things in the democratic educa- 
tion of America is that Americans are not content with supplying floods 



JUL ^0 19G7 



"•1 «v, .v^. 

— ]2- 



of primary instruction, leaving the rest to rather desultory effort or to 
sectional interests. They have grasped the fact that, for national wel- 
fare under modern conditions, the highest and most costly types of 
technical and university training are as indispensable as the kinder- 
garten and the primary school." This English expert is right in believ- 
ing that the fundamental doctrine of American education is that edu- 
cation of all grades shall be democratic in character, and, if Texas is to 
be true to American ideals in education, she must be loyal to popular 
education in all its phases, elementary, secondary, and higher. 

What is the practical lesson to be drawn from the facts that have 
been presented in this paper ? Clearly it is this : We who are in the 
mere beginnings of education, should realize the fact that we have 
ONLY BEGUN. Clearly, the people of this state, many of whom are not 
correctly informed, should be shown plainly and pointedly the present 
really lamentable situation. Until this shall have been done, we can- 
not hope that conditions will be improved. Another lesson, which is 
like unto the first: Those of us who are engaged in the school work of 
this state, should rally together as one man, and do our duty by the 
people whose educational interests have been committed to our hands. 
In the performance of this duty there is no virtue greater than the 
virtue of being able and willing to tell the truth. 



THE UNIVERSITY OF T ••^^"^SlTl 

-• MAIN UNIVERSITY, AUSTIN 

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, GALVESTON 

Wm. L. Prather, Lly. D., President 

- Coeducational. Tuition FREE. Matriculation fee 
$30.00 (Payable in Academic and Engineering Depart- 
ments in three annual installments). Annual expense 
$150.00 and upward. Proper credit for work in other 
institutions. 

MAIN UNIVERSITY 

Session opens September 28, 1904. Largest and best 
equipped Libraries, Laboratories, Natural History and 
J^ological Collections, Men's and Women's Dormitories 
and Gymnasiums in Texas. Board at Cost. 

Academic Department: courses of liberal study lead- 
ing to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and courses 
leading to State Teachers' Certificates. 

Engineering Department: courses leading to de- 
grees in Civil, Electrical, Mining, and Sanitary Engi- 
neering. 

Law Department: A three-year course leading to 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Shorter special courses 
for specially equipped students. /* ^ ,. >; 

For further information and catalogue, address^ * . 

G. C. E. Butte, Registrar,.; "* 

Main University, Austin, Texas. .;. 

MEDICAL DEPARTMENT * *^{^ 

Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing. Ses- ^tJ 
sion of eight months begins October 1, 1904. Four-year 
graded course in Medicine; two-year courses in Pharmacy 
and Nursing. Laboratories thoroughly equipped for 
practical teaching. Exceptional clinical advantages in 
the John Sealy Hospital. University Hall provides a 
comfortable home for women students of Medicine. 

For further information and catalogue, address 
Dr. W. S. Carter, Dean, 
Medical Department, Galveston, Texas. 



HoUin 



HoUinger Corp. 
pH8.5 



